Dodge This!
by Midnayuki
Summary: Challenge Response to deadlydaisy808. I did the dodgeball one. Danny's day isn't going all that great. What happens when he gets a chance to not fail gym, but his secret is at stake? Is it part of something bigger?
1. The Oneshot

**Hey all! I found this on deadlydaisy808's list of challenges, and I just HAD to do it.**

**gym was never Danny's favorite class. The fact that Mrs. Tetsaf's favorite sport was dodge ball didn't change that. Exam time has rolled around and she really cooked up something good this time. The test? A game of dodge ball, every time a person gets out they lose five points, every time they get someone out they gain three points. Danny sees an opportunity to gain some serious extra credit. If he can get enough points in this one game, he could even raise his GPA. Unfortunately he isn't the only one with this idea. Danny being pegged as one of the wimpy kids is near the top in everyone's hit list. Will Danny risk showing some skill he isn't supposed to have in order to bring up his grade?**

**I do not own Danny Phantom, or anything in this fic, really.**

Danny began his day at about 3:34 AM that day, rudely awakened by his ghost sense and being phased out his window. As soon as he was conscious enough, he noticed the offending ghost (Skulker) and proceeded to kick his tiny butt out of his suit and into the thermos. He returned to his room about half an hour later, with a few scratches, bruised knuckles, and the decision to leave Skulker in the thermos for about a week to get him to stop attacking at 3 AM, as this was becoming a habit.

He was just about to drift to sleep when his ghost sense made itself known again, along with a "Beware!" and a Box Ghost, who flew out of his room with Danny at his heels. The chase was boring, as it crossed the town and had Danny growing more and more irritated. By the time Danny got close enough to him to get him in the thermos, which would have been easier if Valerie hadn't shown up and taken another hour of his time, it was about 5 in the morning. The thermos was capped and shaken, much to the ire of it's contents, and he flew home. He was going to get into his bed when the caterwauling of his alarm clock stopped him. He groaned, changed back into a human, and continued onward to his least favorite time of year.

It was Final Exam time at Casper High once again, ladies and gentlemen, and we all know what that means: Ms. Testlaff was going to pit the students against each other in a fierce contest of agility, speed, and even pain. You guessed it: her final exam was a class-long game of dodgeball. This was normally not a problem, but this year was a little different. Because of the poor grades of some of her students *cough Danny cough* she decided to make a few changes.

"Okay class, I hope you're all prepared for today's game of dodgeball. I've decided to make a few new rules this time around, to hopefully save a few of you from failing." She stared pointedly at Danny before continuing. "The changes are fairly simple: for every person you hit, you get three points. For every time you get out, you will lose five points. Understand?" The class was chatting animatedly, Danny no exception.

"Guys, this is my perfect chance! What could be easier?"

"Dude, I know! From all the time we spend fighting ghosts, dodging should be a snap, though you do get blasted into things more often then not. Hey!" That last bit was prompted by a swift kick from Danny. Sam was a bit more concerned than her friends seemed to be.

"Danny, wait; think about this for a second. Everyone will be aiming for you, because they all think you're the 'wimpy Fenton kid.' What do you think will happen if you use the skills they think you shouldn't have?"

"Chill out, Sam, I'll be fine." Internally, he was a little worried, though. He absentmindedly turned his shirt around and went to his team assignment as he pondered all the ways he could try to avoid making anyone suspicious. _I _could_ just hang around and not throw that many balls, _he thought,_ and just use some of the other kids as cover. Sam could probably take out the bigger targets for me, and Tuck could probably give me warnings and things like that, so I have time to dodge. _He looked up, only to see that Sam and Tuck both were smiling apologetically from the other team, with Dash and Kwan. He didn't even have Valerie on his side. It seemed to be the stereotypical set up: Jocks (and Sam and Tucker) vs. Nerds, but he didn't even have his friends on his side. He was all alone.

Before he could even register the smirk Dash was sending him, the whistle blew. It had begun.

The game started out very fast, with nerds and geeks falling left and right. After only three minutes, half his team was out. _At least,_ he thought,_ I can work with what I have._ This was true. The students left were members of the color guard (who were _very_ used to throwing and catching awkward things while on the move), the drama geeks, who put their stage combat training to good use (rolling and ducking with a quip or quote), and Nathan, which was surprising, considering Valerie had been aiming for him all period.

Zoning out like this would have proved "fatal" if Danny hadn't been fighting ghosts for the past year or so. He simply allowed his reflexes to kick in a little every once in a while, occasionally side-stepping or catching a ball at the last second, trying his best to make it look awkward. A few eyebrows were raised, but no one said anything. The rest of his team wasn't as responsive as he was, so even with their "experience," Danny was soon the only one left.

A few lucky shots had gotten Sam and Val out, and Tucker tripped over himself, so there was soon no one left on the other team to knock things out of the air for him. He was the last target, and Dash practically had murder in his eyes by this point.

"Hey, Fen-toenail! Ready for a humiliating defeat?" Danny groaned, and dropped into a shadow of his fighting stance. It was barely noticeable, but Sam and Tucker exchanged worried glances before watching the scene unfold. A ball came at him from the left, courtesy of Kwan. He took three steps to his right, ducked a little, and the ball missed by about a foot. Another jock took aim, but Danny had a ball ready, and blocked the incoming projectile with the ball he held firm in his hand. He grabbed the newly deflected ball and threw it at the offending jock. He picked up all the balls near him and threw them haphazardly- partly to keep his secret and partly to even the odds a bit, since the only people out on Dash's team were Sam, Tuck, Val, Star, and Paulina. When he was out of ammo, he "sprinted" towards the rest of the balls on his side, zig-zaging and generally evading the balls thrown back at him.

"No loser friends to help you this time, Fentina! You're all alone and..." He continued to taunt Danny, who was already pretty irritated from the Box Ghost, Skulker, and Val from this morning. Dash was interrupted mid-tirade by a ball whizzing right past his face and a frustrated growl from Danny. "What're you aiming at, loser?"

"Kwan." Dash turned around to see Kwan sitting down. Unfortunately for Danny, that was his last ball, and Dash was furious to see his second-in-command taken down so easily. Snarling, all the jocks grabbed a ball in both hands, and Dash had two tucked under his arm. They all got ready to throw, somehow knowing that it would be on Dash's signal.

"NOW!" Balls came pelting at Danny, who decided that enough was enough. He expertly maneuvered his way through the storm of balls, which he saw were being thrown so hard that they actually bounced all the way back to the other team's half of the room. After realizing that he couldn't just pick up the balls after they hit the wall, Danny grabbed a few out of the air and absently returned fire, knocking jock after jock out of play. Dash, who had been too angry to see what Danny was doing, was soon the only one left.

After looking around, wondering why his team stopped firing, he only got madder. He picked up all of the balls on his side and threw them all almost at the same time. Danny realized with a slight jolt that he couldn't dodge them all by side-stepping, and some of them were aimed to low to duck, so his body, halfway in hero-mode, flipped over all of them, caught the one that was thrown the highest, and threw it at Dash in mid-air. Dash was too stunned by Danny's display to even register that he was out.

Danny, who hadn't realized what he was doing since the balls started coming, returned to reality at the sound of Testlaff's whistle and his ghost sense. Ms. Testlaff was about to say something when Ember phased through the wall, and her ghostly band mates blocked all of the exits.

"WHERE'S MY BOYFRIEND, DIPSTICK?" Did I mention she was angry? Yeah, she was angry. She was so mad, in fact, that her eyes were a solid red and her hair was even more of an inferno than usual. She did not give him a chance to respond as she strummed on her guitar, sending a pink fist hurtling towards him. He dodged, grumbling about all the dodging he had done that day.

Dash was still in shock. First Danny did a flip, then he got him out, and now a screaming ghost was in the gym? It was too much. Sam and Tuck were on their feet, Valerie trying to be of help, even without her suit. However, it was Danny slamming into him that really woke up the large jock.

"What are you stupid? MOVE!" the young hero yelled. Another pink fist was sent their way. It was Danny shoving him out of the way that finally snapped Dash out of it. Danny turned back to Ember while Dash scurried over to where most of the rest of the class was huddled in the corner, as far away from the furious specter as possible. "You guys are _still_ dating? Geez, you are aware that he is only, like, three inches tall, right?" Another blast was sent his way.

"If you don't let him go right now, dipstick, I'm going to have to take some of my anger out on something..." she trailed off, smiling evilly at Danny's classmates. She adjusted a few knobs on her guitar, and looked up again, smirking. "I wanted to show you something, baby-pop. I tricked out my guitar recently, and now I can power up any attack I want! How about a little demonstration?" She strummed out a power chord, aiming the now-enlarged pink fist of energy and Danny's classmates.

Danny had not yet left hero-mode in any way, shape, or form, and thus can be excused from his next lapse of logical thought in regards to his secret. He launched himself into the air, crying "Going ghost!" as he went, and the familiar rings traveled up and down. We all know what the transformation is like, so I'm not going into it here. He sped over to his classmates, erected a shield to block Ember's attack, and proceeded to kick her butt, with all of his gym class stunned at his sudden transformation. He pulled her into the locker room with him, got his thermos, and had her inside in less than five minutes. It was only when he was breathing a sigh of relief that realized what he had done.

He had transformed. In front of everybody. With another sigh- this one of anxiety- her returned to the gym, to find Sam and Tucker trying to calm everyone down, especially Valerie. His reappearance did not go unnoticed, however, and he was soon crowded with fans and enemies, in Val's case. He flew up and away from them, bringing Sam and Tuck with him. He put his friends down near a basketball hoop, and hovered inches above the basket. He began to speak.

"I expect that you have questions, so I'll say this before we get started. What has happened here cannot leave this room. Not only could I get carted off to a lab and be horribly experimented on, I could also be disowned by my parents, and more than a few of my enemies could find out that you know and use you all as bait for me. Now that that's settled, we can begin. Dash?"

Dash put down his hand and spoke up. "Why did you let me wail on you all those times?"

"Because, I don't use my powers for payback, except for a few harmless pranks. Besides, it might have led me to become part of the A-lists, which is just too much attention for me. And, Paulina, before you ask, the answer is no. I will not go out with you." Paulina put her hand down, disappointed. "Yes, Nathan?"

"Who was that ghost you just fought, and what was that about her boyfriend?"

"That was Ember. She was that rock star from a while back that was brainwashing everyone with her music. She's going out with Skulker, the ghost zone's 'greatest' hunter, who has been after my pelt for a while now."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm only half-ghost, and that's pretty unique. He's made it a habit of coming after me at three in the morning lately, so I'm not letting him out of the thermos for about a week. Hopefully, it will get him to stop, seeing as the Box Ghost is in there with him. Next?" Valerie's hand was raised. "Valerie, I'll start this one. Yes, I'm really Danny. Yes, I've been Danny this whole time. That wasn't my dog at Axion; I was actually trying to get him back into the Ghost Zone. I didn't mean to get your dad fired, and I feel really bad about it. I have never once tried to hurt you on purpose. That time when I destroyed your suit? Technus was controlling it; I knew you weren't in there."

"But what about when you stole that stuff! And when you kidnapped the mayor! And, you revealed me to my dad!"

"Valerie. When I stole that stuff, Freakshow, the Circus Gothica Ringleader, was controlling me. His staff controlled ghosts. In fact, Lydia, the one with the tattoos, was the only one there of her own will. When I 'kidnapped' the mayor, one of the ghosts that has a grudge against me overshadowed the mayor to make the town turn against me. He had me in a headlock. Lastly, when I revealed you to your dad, I did it for your own good. Using the Ectoskeleton would have killed you long before you got to Pariah. It almost killed me." Valerie looked like she was slapped in the face, but she smiled a bit at Danny. "Next?"

"How did it happen?"

"Sam, Tucker, I'll need your input on what happened once I get to the part where I turn it on. Okay, so my parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone. It didn't work at first, so when Sam and Tucker came over later, they wanted to see it. Tucker wanted to see if he could do something about it, and Sam wanted a look inside the Ghost Zone. They convinced me to go inside it, so I put on a Hazmat suit, and walked in. It was dark, and I tripped over a cable or something. When I caught myself on the wall, the portal turned on. All I can remember about the next bit is that it hurt a lot. Sam, Tucker, what happened then?" Tucker was about to speak up, but he caught the look in Sam's eye and quickly closed his mouth.

"It was horrible. He started screaming and convulsing, which made sense considering thousands of volts of ecto-electricity were coursing through him. His form kept flashing between Fenton and Phantom before it finally stopped after about a minute or two. Good thing his parents weren't home, or they might have blasted Danny to bits. When he stumbled out, he was losing consciousness. We tried to catch him, but our hands slipped through him. He passed out, and went back to looking like he usually does." Danny picked up the story again.

"I managed to look in the mirror down there before I passed out, and I saw myself in ghost mode. I didn't believe that I was a ghost until I fell through my bed the next morning. We've figured out that I'm half ghost, and I have better control now, but for about a month I kept phasing through things or random parts of me would turn invisible. I'm surprised no one noticed."

"We all thought you were being clumsy. On that note, what exactly can you do that I'm not aware of, Fenton?" This was Testlaff talking.

"Well, I can fly at about 112 mph tops, I can run about twenty to thirty mph, none of the dodging I did in class today was any strain at all. I can shoot ectoblasts, I have ice powers, I can make shields, and I'm working on duplication. There's also my Ghostly Wail..." There were shouts for demonstrations, especially for the last one, but Danny refused, saying that it was for emergencies only. The bell rang, cutting off the chance for any more questions, and Danny flew Sam and Tucker home, gym being the last period of the day. _Whatever happens now, _Danny thought, _I guess only time will tell._

**I've always wanted to do a fic where he gets revealed... and now I have! This is the longest thing I've ever written. Please tell me what you think, and if you think I should continue or just leave it be.**


	2. And so it Begins

**This is the non-oneshot version of Dodge This! I've kept the original up for those who liked where the story ended (obviously), but in order to take the story somewhere, I've decided to do a bit of tweaking, mostly towards the end of this chapter. I haven't decided where exactly this story is going, so if you have any thoughts or "that would be so cool" moments, let me know. I do have the main concept though, don't worry.**

**I do not own Danny Phantom, or anything in this fic, really.**

Danny began his day at about 3:34 AM, rudely awakened by his ghost sense and being phased out his window. As soon as he was conscious enough, he noticed the offending ghost (Skulker) and proceeded to kick his tiny butt out of his suit and into the thermos. He returned to his room about half an hour later, with a few scratches, bruised knuckles, and the decision to leave Skulker in the thermos for about a week to get him to stop attacking at 3 AM, as this was becoming a habit.

He was just about to drift to sleep when his ghost sense made itself known again, along with a "Beware!" and a Box Ghost, who flew out of his room with Danny at his heels. The chase was boring, as it crossed the town and had Danny growing more and more irritated. By the time Danny got close enough to him to get him in the thermos, which would have been easier if Valerie hadn't shown up and taken another hour of his time, it was about 5 in the morning. The thermos was capped and shaken, much to the ire of it's contents, and he flew home. He was going to get into his bed when the caterwauling of his alarm clock stopped him. He groaned, changed back into a human, and continued onward to his least favorite time of year.

It was Final Exam time at Casper High once again, ladies and gentlemen, and we all know what that means: Ms. Testlaff was going to pit the students against each other in a fierce contest of agility, speed, and even pain. You guessed it: her final exam was a class-long game of dodgeball. This was normally not a problem, but this year was a little different. Because of the poor grades of some of her students *cough Danny cough* she decided to make a few changes.

"Okay class, I hope you're all prepared for today's game of dodgeball. I've decided to make a few new rules this time around, to hopefully save a few of you from failing." She stared pointedly at Danny before continuing. "The changes are fairly simple: for every person you hit, you get three points. For every time you get out, you will lose five points. Understand?" The class was chatting animatedly, Danny no exception.

"Guys, this is my perfect chance! What could be easier?"

"Dude, I know! From all the time we spend fighting ghosts, dodging should be a snap, though you do get blasted into things more often then not. Hey!" That last bit was prompted by a swift kick from Danny. Sam was a bit more concerned than her friends seemed to be.

"Danny, wait; think about this for a second. Everyone will be aiming for you, because they all think you're the 'wimpy Fenton kid.' What do you think will happen if you use the skills they think you shouldn't have?"

"Chill out, Sam, I'll be fine." Internally, he was a little worried, though. He absentmindedly turned his shirt around and went to his team assignment as he pondered all the ways he could try to avoid making anyone suspicious. _I _could_ just hang around and not throw that many balls, _he thought,_ and just use some of the other kids as cover. Sam could probably take out the bigger targets for me, and Tuck could probably give me warnings and things like that, so I have time to dodge. _He looked up, only to see that Sam and Tuck both were smiling apologetically from the other team, with Dash and Kwan. He didn't even have Valerie on his side. It seemed to be the stereotypical set up: Jocks (and Sam and Tucker) vs. Nerds, and he was all alone.

Before he could even register the smirk Dash was sending him, the whistle blew. It had begun.

The game started out very fast, with nerds and geeks falling left and right. After only three minutes, half his team was out. _At least,_ he thought,_ I can work with what I have._ This was true. The students left were members of the color guard (who were _very_ used to throwing and catching awkward things while on the move), the drama geeks, who put their stage combat training to good use (rolling and ducking with a quip or quote), and Nathan, which was surprising, considering Valerie had been aiming for him all period.

Zoning out like this would have proved "fatal" if Danny hadn't been fighting ghosts for the past year or so. He simply allowed his reflexes to kick in a little every once in a while, occasionally side-stepping or catching a ball at the last second, trying his best to make it look awkward. A few eyebrows were raised, but no one said anything. The rest of his team wasn't as responsive as he was, so even with their "experience," Danny was soon the only one left.

A few lucky shots had gotten Sam and Val out, and Tucker tripped over himself, so there was soon no one left on the other team to knock things out of the air for him. He was the last target, and Dash practically had murder in his eyes by this point.

"Hey, Fen-toenail! Ready for a humiliating defeat?" Danny groaned, and dropped into a shadow of his fighting stance. It was barely noticeable, but Sam and Tucker exchanged worried glances before watching the scene unfold. A ball came at him from the left, courtesy of Kwan. He took three steps to his right, ducked a little, and the ball missed by about a foot. Another jock took aim, but Danny had a ball ready, and blocked the incoming projectile with the ball he held firm in his hand. He grabbed the newly deflected ball and threw it at the offending jock. He picked up all the balls near him and threw them haphazardly- partly to keep his secret and partly to even the odds a bit, since the only people out on Dash's team were Sam, Tuck, Val, Star, and Paulina. When he was out of ammo, he "sprinted" towards the rest of the balls on his side, zig-zaging and generally evading the balls thrown back at him.

"No loser friends to help you this time, Fentina! You're all alone and..." He continued to taunt Danny, who was already pretty irritated from the Box Ghost, Skulker, and Val from this morning. Dash was interrupted mid-tirade by a ball whizzing right past his face and a frustrated growl from Danny. "What're you aiming at, loser?"

"Kwan." Dash turned around to see Kwan sitting down. Unfortunately for Danny, that was his last ball, and Dash was furious to see his second-in-command taken down so easily. Snarling, all the jocks grabbed a ball in both hands, and Dash had two tucked under his arm. They all got ready to throw, somehow knowing that it would be on Dash's signal.

"NOW!" Balls came pelting at Danny, who decided that enough was enough. He expertly maneuvered his way through the storm of balls, which he saw were being thrown so hard that they actually bounced all the way back to the other team's half of the room. After realizing that he couldn't just pick up the balls after they hit the wall, Danny grabbed a few out of the air and absently returned fire, knocking jock after jock out of play. Dash, who had been too angry to see what Danny was doing, was soon the only one left.

After looking around, wondering why his team stopped firing, he only got madder. He picked up all of the balls on his side and threw them all almost at the same time. Danny realized with a slight jolt that he couldn't dodge them all by side-stepping, and some of them were aimed to low to duck, so his body, halfway in hero-mode, flipped over all of them, caught the one that was thrown the highest, and threw it at Dash in mid-air. Dash was too stunned by Danny's display to even register that he was out.

Danny, who hadn't realized what he was doing since the balls started coming, returned to reality at the sound of Testlaff's whistle and his ghost sense. Ms. Testlaff was about to say something when Ember phased through the wall, and her ghostly band mates blocked all of the exits.

"WHERE'S MY BOYFRIEND, DIPSTICK?" Did I mention she was angry? Yeah, she was angry. She was so mad, in fact, that her eyes were a solid red and her hair was even more of an inferno than usual. She did not give him a chance to respond as she strummed on her guitar, sending a pink fist hurtling towards him. He dodged, grumbling about all the dodging he had done that day.

Dash was still in shock. First Danny did a flip, then he got him out, and now a screaming ghost was in the gym? It was too much. Sam and Tuck were on their feet, Valerie trying to be of help, even without her suit. However, it was Danny slamming into him that really woke up the large jock.

"What are you stupid? MOVE!" the young hero yelled. Another pink fist was sent their way. It was Danny shoving him out of the way that finally snapped Dash out of it. Danny turned back to Ember while Dash scurried over to where most of the rest of the class was huddled in the corner, as far away from the furious specter as possible. "You guys are _still_ dating? Geez, you are aware that he is only, like, three inches tall, right?" Another blast was sent his way.

"If you don't let him go right now, dipstick, I'm going to have to take some of my anger out on something..." she trailed off, smiling evilly at Danny's classmates. She adjusted a few knobs on her guitar, and looked up again, smirking. "I wanted to show you something, baby-pop. I tricked out my guitar recently, and now I can power up any attack I want! How about a little demonstration?" She strummed out a power chord, aiming the now-enlarged pink fist of energy at Danny's classmates.

Danny had not yet left hero-mode in any way, shape, or form, and thus can be excused from his next lapse of logical thought in regards to his secret. He launched himself into the air, crying "Going ghost!" as he went, and the familiar rings traveled up and down. We all know what the transformation is like, so I'm not going into it here. He sped over to his classmates, erected a shield to block Ember's attack, and proceeded to kick her butt, with all of his gym class stunned at his sudden transformation. He pulled her into the locker room with him, got his thermos, and had her inside in less than five minutes. It was only when he was breathing a sigh of relief that realized what he had done.

He had transformed. In front of everybody. With another sigh- this one of anxiety- her returned to the gym, to find Sam and Tucker trying to calm everyone down, especially Valerie. His reappearance did not go unnoticed, however, and he was soon crowded with fans and enemies, in Val's case. He flew up and away from them, bringing Sam and Tuck with him. He put his friends down near a basketball hoop, and hovered inches above the basket. He began to speak.

"I expect that you have questions, so I'll say this before we get started. What has happened here cannot leave this room. Not only could I get carted off to a lab and be horribly experimented on, I could also be disowned by my parents, and more than a few of my enemies could find out that you know and use you all as bait for me. Now that that's settled, we can begin. Dash?"

Dash put down his hand and spoke up. "Why did you let me wail on you all those times?"

"Because, I don't use my powers for payback, except for a few harmless pranks. Besides, it might have led me to become something I promised I wouldn't." He shuddered at the memory of his future self. "And, Paulina, before you ask, the answer is no. I will not go out with you." Paulina put her hand down, disappointed. "Yes, Nathan?"

"Who was that ghost you just fought, and what was that about her boyfriend?"

"That was Ember. She was that rock star from a while back that was brainwashing everyone with her music. She's going out with Skulker, the ghost zone's 'greatest' hunter, who has been after my pelt for a while now." He rolled his eyes, amused at the thought.

"Why?"

"Because, I'm only half-ghost, and that's pretty unique. He's made it a habit of coming after me at three in the morning lately, so I'm not letting him out of the thermos for about a week. Hopefully, it will get him to stop, seeing as the Box Ghost is in there with him. Next?" Valerie's hand was raised. He massaged the bridge of his nose and looked down for a moment. "Valerie, I'll start this one. Yes, I'm really Danny. Yes, I've been Danny this whole time. That wasn't my dog at Axion; I was actually trying to get him back into the Ghost Zone. I didn't mean to get your dad fired, and I feel really bad about it. I have never once tried to hurt you on purpose. That time when I destroyed your suit? Technus was controlling it; I knew you weren't in there."

"But what about when you stole that stuff! And when you kidnapped the mayor! And, you revealed me to my dad!"

"Valerie. When I stole that stuff, Freakshow, the Circus Gothica Ringleader, was controlling me. His staff controlled ghosts. In fact, Lydia, the one with the tattoos, was the only one there of her own will. When I 'kidnapped' the mayor, one of the ghosts that has a grudge against me overshadowed the mayor to make the town turn against me. He had me in a headlock. Lastly, when I revealed you to your dad, I did it for your own good. Using the Ectoskeleton would have killed you long before you got to Pariah. It almost killed me." Valerie looked like she was slapped in the face, but she smiled a bit at Danny. "Next?"

"How did it happen?"

"Sam, Tucker, I'll need your input on what happened once I get to the part where I turn it on. Okay, so my parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone. It didn't work at first, so when Sam and Tucker came over later, they wanted to see it. Tucker wanted to see if he could do something about it, and Sam wanted a look inside the Ghost Zone. They convinced me to go inside it, so I put on a Hazmat suit, and walked in. It was dark, and I tripped over a cable or something. When I caught myself on the wall, the portal turned on. All I can remember about the next bit is that it hurt a lot. Sam, Tucker, what happened then?" Tucker spoke up, ignoring the look in Sam's eye that clearly said 'Shut up. Both of you.'

"It was horrible. He started screaming and convulsing, which made sense considering thousands of volts of ecto-electricity were coursing through him. His form kept flashing between Fenton and Phantom before it finally stopped on Phantom after about a minute or two. Good thing his parents weren't home, or they might have blasted Danny to bits. When he stumbled out, he was losing consciousness. We tried to catch him, but our hands slipped through him. He passed out, and went back to looking like he usually does." Danny picked up the story again.

"I managed to look in the mirror down there before I passed out, and I saw myself in ghost mode. I didn't believe that I was a ghost until I fell through my bed the next morning. We've figured out that I'm half ghost, and I have better control now, but for about a month I kept phasing through things or random parts of me would turn invisible. I'm surprised no one noticed."

"We all thought you were being clumsy. Now we know that you're far from it." This was Ms. Testlaff, putting her two-bits in.

"Actually, it was a combination of me being clumsy and my uncontrolled powers. It wasn't until a few months of ghost fighting that I learned how not to be a klutz." Before he could say anything else, the bell rang, cutting off the chance for any more questions, and Danny flew Sam and Tucker home, gym being the last period of the day. _Whatever happens now, _Danny thought, _I guess only time will tell._

"Danny!" Sam supplied a punch to his arm along with his name.

"Ow! What?"

"Why did you tell them so much? Now they'll just blab everything, and don't even start about how you made them keep all of it a secret, you know they won't. Especially _Paulina._" She said the prep's name as if she were hell spawn.

"Sorry, Sam. I just wasn't thinking." There was silence for a second. "Why didn't you hit Tucker? He contributed to the story." Tucker protested, but even I'm ignoring him right now.

"I can't reach him. I'll hit him later." The rest of the flight went on in silence. Sam was thinking of all possible implications of what had just happened. Danny was thinking about the QnA session, relieved that he probably wouldn't have to worry about the Red Huntress anymore. Tucker was thinking about... whatever he thinks about. I really don't want to know. Danny dropped off his friends, Sam hitting Tucker as he dropped him off, and returned home, to find Jazz sitting on the sofa, reading Psychology for the Obsessive Sister.

"Jazz, I need to talk to you."

"What is it Danny?" She seemed concerned, because Danny never came to her unless it was majorly important.

"Jazz, my gym class knows I'm Danny Phantom."

"WHAT?"

**I think I'll end it right there for now. I hope you guys like the little changes, this'll make it easier to keep going.**


	3. Allies and Enemies

**Alright, finally! I've been letting this one stew in my head for a little while, and I finally think its ready. It took me FOREVER to figure out all the things I was going to do with this story, and I finally know! Yay! I upped the rating a bit, for this chapter, and chapters to follow. I am going to be evil, but I'll try not to break Danny too bad. No promises.**

**I Don't Own Danny Phantom. If I did, you would be able to tell.**

"WHAT?" She seemed... upset. "You told your gym class, most of whom hate you, and you wouldn't even tell me? How could you?" She droned on about things like 'trust issues' and other nonsense. I swear, she's like Jack and ghosts sometimes when it comes to psychology... Danny waited patiently until she had to stop for air.

"Jazz, calm down. Ember phased into the gym, and attacked my classmates. I couldn't get out to go ghost. I had no choice. What would you have done?" She significantly deflated, and flushed slightly, embarrassed by her outburst. Danny went upstairs without a word; ready to climb into bed, but knowing he had a few things to take care of first.

When he got to his room, he sat himself down at his computer after gazing at his bed longingly, and opened his ghost files. He sorted through them and saved copies of all of them (except Clockwork, Dan, and the Observants). He then attached all of the information to an email, and sent it off to Valerie, knowing she had nothing of the sort. He logged on to Doomed for a little while, but after the fourth time being blown up by Hamlet42, he gave it up as a lost cause. He was about to go to sleep when he got Sam and Tuck started a video chat with him at the same time.

"Did you guys plan that or something?"

"Actually, yeah. Jazz called us to make sure we 'gave you time for the reality to sink in.' I think she should be bursting into your room in 3, 2, 1..." Sam trailed off as Jazz made her appearance. Danny rolled his eyes, and they talked about normal teen stuff (or as close to normal as they could anymore) for quite a while. The whole 'normal teenager' experience was ruined when Valerie joined the chat.

"Hey, Danny. How's it-" she cut herself off at Sam's impressive death glare. She sighed, and decided to get it over with. "Danny, I know I didn't say this before, but I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you. I hunted you obsessively, while crushing on your human half. I want to make it up to you somehow. Is there any way we could work together from now on?"

"Actually, yeah, that's what I was hoping for. That's why I sent you those ghost files. I figured you should know more about who you're fighting all the time."

"You sent her your ghost files?" Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all yelled at the same time at a sheepish Danny. Valerie was wondering what the significance was.

"Relax guys." Danny shot Sam and Tucker an IM saying he didn't tell her anything about Clockwork or Dan. Jazz read over his shoulder, and Sam reluctantly calmed down. Tucker was cool with it. Jazz nodded, but said nothing. "Anything you figure out that isn't on here, Val?"

"Actually, yeah. There's another half-ghost in Amity Park." She spoke carefully, but there was a certain edge to her voice that she normally saved for Danny.

"You know about Vlad?" To say she was stunned is a minor understatement. She was quiet for about a minute, jaw opening and closing wordlessly, before her brain caught up to her.

"You know about Vlad?"

"Well, yeah. My dad thinks he's his best friend. Plasmius, however, wants to kill my dad, marry my mom, and make me his evil apprentice. I've known for a while now. He's way more powerful than me, so we usually have an uneasy truce. He provokes me, I fight back. I don't expose him, he doesn't expose me. I generally lose when we fight. He's pretty much the biggest fruitloop in existence. And, he needs a cat."

"He has one. He named it Maddie." At hearing this news, Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz started cracking up. Valerie didn't get the joke, but had to wait for a little while before the others had enough control to explain that Danny had been advising him on the purchase of a cat pretty much since they knew about each other. Valerie was giggling too, but not much.

"Well, guys, I'd love to talk some more, but I'm just a little tired." Danny proved his point when he yawned. He smirked at the chain reaction of yawns ('But I'm not even tired!' Oh, Tuck...) and was about to turn off the chat when Val asked why.

"Like I said. Skulker keeps phasing me out my window at three o'clock in the freaking morning. Then, once I beat him to a pulp and got him in the thermos, the Box Ghost came and left. I almost had him when you came along." Val blushed and mumbled out an apology. "It's cool. You only got my leg a bit, and it's mostly healed by now. Anyway, I got the Box Ghost in the thermos and flew home, only to meet my alarm clock. It takes a lot of self-control not to blast that thing to pieces." With that, he said a quick goodbye, shut off his webcam, and shooed his sister out of his room. Without bothering to change his clothes (though he did phase his shoes off), he flopped on his bed and was out like a light.

_He was running. He couldn't remember if he was running towards or away from something, but he knew that he needed to keep going. If he didn't... nothing would be the same. He looked up, and saw his goal. His family and Sam and Tuck, even Valerie and Lancer, standing together. They were peaceful, happy. Nothing could ruin this. Then, all of a sudden, the ground shook. The sky became a dull grey-green. The clouds swirled. And Danny knew that _he _was here. Before he could do anything, _he_ took out Lancer, leaving nothing but ash where a teacher once stood._

He _turned to his parents next. Danny ran even faster, scared for his life and theirs. _He _told them who _he_ once was. _He _told them about Danny Phantom. His parents turned away from him. Jazz went to comfort him, but his parents held him back._

_ "Stay away from that monster," they said. Jazz shook her head and tried to get to Danny. _He_ lifted her by her hair, and lit it aflame. The rest of her body soon followed. Maddie and Jack blamed Danny, not _him_. "You are not our son, ghost!" they said. They melted away, while _he_ laughed. Valerie, Sam, and Tucker tried to stop _him_, but they couldn't. Tucker fell first, his lifeless eyes piercing into Danny. Sam died with tears streaming down her face. Valerie was thrown high into the air, and then blasted. And the worst part was, Danny _felt_ it. He felt what it was like for _him_, to enjoy killing the people he loved._

_ "You were always going to become me. You don't need to fruitloop anymore to do it, either. Come, Danny. It is time to take your revenge." Danny didn't say a word. He couldn't. His body was not his own. He felt his eyes glow red, and his mind turn hazy. He watched as he killed thousands of people. He enjoyed it. He laughed as his ghostly enemies fell before him. Technus would no longer proclaim himself Master of Technology, nor would he use outdated slang ever again. Skulker couldn't build any new suits._

"Danny, wake up!"

_Ember was forgotten. Walker would never make any more rules. Even Cujo was not safe from the destruction._

"Danny!" _Soon there was no one left. Even Vlad had fled for his life._

"DANNY!" He yelped as he tumbled out of bed, his heart racing. He saw that it was Jazz who woke him up. A glance at the clock told him it was 7:00 PM. "Another nightmare?" She asked soothingly. She saw the tears streaking down his face, and pulled him into a gentle hug, rubbing his back in circles, comforting him like only big sisters can. Danny didn't respond to any of it, he just sat thinking. When his breathing had calmed down, Jazz left to go heat up leftovers for him. When she returned, he asked to be left alone for a while. She nodded, and left him to his thoughts. _Something's going to happen soon,_ he thought._ I just hope that whatever it is, I can stop it._ Deep in the ghost zone, something stirred.

**Alrighty then! Tell me what you think, ask me anything you want to know, and I'll try to answer.**


	4. Training Part 1 and Story Time

**Hey guys! Writers block has been very evil lately, so this didn't get written as soon as I would have liked. On the plus side, my lang and comp teacher doesn't care when I'm writing this during his class.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or "Bad Romance."**

The next day, Danny got to sleep in thanks to his decision to leave Skulker and the Box Ghost inside the thermos for the week. Granted, sleeping in for him was not being awoken by his ghost sense until the sun was within an hour of rising, but this was serious sleeping in. Like, until noon sleeping in. Danny thought it was one of the most awesome things ever. But, the minute Danny woke up, he had a feeling that something was wrong, that something important was missing, and in its place was horrific nothingness. The house was abnormally quiet; no early morning explosions shook the house, only to be followed by a loud 'I didn't do it!' courtesy of Jack. Danny went downstairs apprehensively, soon realizing why the house didn't feel right.

His mom was not making breakfast (or lunch, considering it was noon).

After soaking in this horror, he went to the fridge and pulled out a soda, wondering where his parents were. He'd be able to tell if they were in the lab. He went back upstairs to ask Jazz; partly due to honest curiosity, partly because he wanted an excuse to bother her. After all, it _is_ a younger sibling's job. He burst in without knocking, to find it empty. He was slightly nervous about this, backing away in fear that ghosts had lured them away (again), only to run into aforementioned older sister.

"What are you doing in my room, Danny?" She was annoyed. He put on his best innocent pout in response.

"Just wondering where mom and dad were." She wordlessly handed him a brochure with a note on it. It read:

'Hey kids! There's a Ghost Hunter's Convention going on in California that we were asked to speak at that will last about two weeks. There's money for groceries behind in the lab, plus a little extra for pizza. Don't give your sister too much trouble, Danny. Love, Mom and Dad.' It was taped to a brochure that read 'Modern Ghost Hunting and Paranormal Sciences Convention' and there were a bunch of little things on the front like 'This year hosted by Carl Willingham' and the dates and times of different events.

Danny shrugged and walked back into his room, about to take a nap when his computer binged at him, letting him know someone had sent him something. He opened up his email, to discover that several people from his gym class had sent him something along the lines of 'Danny, it's so cool that you're Phantom! Can I help?' The only one he responded to was Valerie's, telling her that he was free today to start learning martial arts. He sat back down on his bed, and next thing he knew, he was waking up to the doorbell.

"Danny! Get down here!" He walked downstairs, to see everyone who had emailed him.

"It's Danny Phantom! Woo!" This came from Kwan _and_ Dash. Danny had to resist facepalming. He looked incredulously at Jazz, using basic sibling telepathy to say 'You_ really_ let them in?'

"One moment." He went back upstairs, and made a brief three-way call to Sam and Tucker, demanding- I mean _requesting_ their presence at FentonWorks. They got there as quickly as they could, but it was still an uncomfortable fifteen minutes. They burst through the door, to be met with the stares of their classmates. "Sam, Tucker, back me up here." Danny then addressed his fellow students. "Listen, everyone. I know you want to help, but the only thing you're going to do for me is keep my secret identity a secret. With the exception of Valerie, I want you all to go home. Now." He was met with a chorus of 'why's' and 'aw man!' "Look! I don't want anyone getting hurt!"

"You let Foley and Manson do it! And why not Valerie?"

"I don't like any of them ghost fighting, but they're all too stubborn to listen to me." With this, Sam gave him a look that said 'damn straight!' Danny tried for at least an hour to try to get them to leave, but the rest of his class turned out to be just as stubborn as his friends. He was red-faced and almost shaking as he tried to get them to understand what it was like to be friends with him, to fight with him. "Sam almost died! If I hadn't shaken off the control Freakshow had over me, she wouldn't be here today! And, my friends and family would have died because of a stupid mistake, if a really strong ghost that happens to like me didn't save them at quite literally the last second!" He winced at the memory, tears starting to form, falling silent as he reigned in his breathing and emotions. Everyone stayed silent, and a lot of people filtered out, but there were still a few people left.

They included Dash, who was shaking at Danny's display, Kwan, who wasn't going to leave his friend's side, Paulina, who seemed not to have heard a word he said, Star, who was performing her role of satellite, Nathan, who was now conversing with Tucker about techie stuff, and Valerie, who was nodding in understanding. Sam pulled Danny and Tuck aside.

"Danny, I think this is as good as we're going to get. I know you don't want too many people in on this, but this might turn out to be for the better. Do you think we could make a few exceptions, and expand Team Phantom?" Danny sighed, his shoulders slumped, and agreed. He turned to the waiting teenagers, and told them what they wanted to hear.

"Before you celebrate, know that this isn't going to be easy. You guys need to learn how to use the equipment, and we need to set up times and places we can meet. My house won't always work, considering that my parents generally want to catch Phantom and tear me apart 'molecule by molecule.' This week though, my house should be fine." They then made their way to the basement, and wouldn't you know it? The A-lists wanted a demonstration. Danny reluctantly agreed, and Sam and Tucker moved everyone towards the staircase. They watched with interest was he stood in the middle of the room, feet shoulder width apart, and shouted his battle cry.

"I'm going ghost!" The rings slid up and down, gliding over him as easily as sliding his body into water. One slid down, obeying gravity; in the process, it washed away his jeans and Converse, leaving behind black hazmat and softly glowing white boots. The other moved upwards, disregarding physics as it washed away his shirt, and even his skin, eye, and hair color, gracing his hands with gloves as the ring moved. Where skin was pale before, now it was tan and glowing. Where hair was black, now it was shimmering white, as if there had never been any color at all. The most noticeable change, to those who _really_ looked at him, was his eyes. Before, they were a soft blue, shining with life. Now, they were a vivid electric green, and held no life in their depths. A thousand times more intense, and so different from what they were just a moment ago.

Everyone was so transfixed by his transformation, they didn't see the rings that now hung from the ceiling, or the guns now aiming at him. They didn't see the panels moving in and out of their original positions quickly, or Sam with a stopwatch in her hand and Tucker at the controls of a computer. It was only when Jazz moved to the side, with a first aid kit in her hand that they realized anything was happening.

"Training begins... NOW!" Sam shouted. "Invisibility!" He fizzled from sight for a moment, then back into view. "Flight!" He flew loops through the rings. "Intangibility!" He flew through the panels that were coming at him. "Activate ectoguns!" The ectoguns started blasting away, and he managed to dodge most of the shots. "Ectoshield!" He put up a shield that lasted until Sam called out "ectoblasts!" The shield fell, and each of the guns (and the targets that popped up) were shot down. "Ice powers!" He froze some more targets, throwing ice balls and some while just blasting others with pure ice energy. "Duplication!" He split himself into two, but they slammed back into each other after half a minute. "Overshadowing!" At this, Danny grinned evilly and turned invisible, and Tucker tried to get out of the way. Fortunately for Tucker, Danny wasn't aiming at him.

Dash started singing "Bad Romance" and doing the dance, acting as sexy as possible. I'll give you three guesses why. By the time it was over, no one could control themselves, and Tucker was in the process of putting it on YouTube. Danny flew out of Dash, laughing his head off, while Dash just looked confused. "What happened?" No one said anything, deciding to hang this over Dash's head as long as possible.

"Guys, I'm done with that for today. I need to save my energy for Valerie's training." They got control of themselves as Danny changed back and walked over to the computer Tuck was typing things into. "So how'd I do today?" he inquired.

"Pretty good. Your speed's up to 190, and you cut ten seconds off the ectoblast and ice stuff. Duplication's the same, though."

"Darn it. I'm never going to get it down!" He moped for a little while, letting Jazz put some aloe on the few burns he got from the ectoguns. She was lecturing him about being more careful, and what if that was a real fight, and blah, blah, blah. Everyone else was baffled that he was disappointed with his progress. They got over it, though, when he went over to them. "That enough of a demonstration for you?" A few nods in his direction were enough. "Okay, we need to figure out what you can do."

He motioned for them to follow him, and gave each one of them a basic ectogun. Tucker set up targets, and after briefly explaining what the guns did and how to work them, he had them fire at the targets. Except for Valerie, that is. She was going around, working with them on aiming and shooting. Danny stood a safe distance behind them, which was wise, seeing as their aim was about as good as Jack's. After about ten minutes, most of them could at least get the target half the time, so Danny had them practice with other weapons.

Training went on like this for some time, as they all figured out what they were good at. Dash and Kwan were good with the Jack-o-Nine-Tails and using the Specter Deflector to turn themselves into human battering rams. Dash was excellent with the Ghost Gloves, and Paulina took to the ghost gauntlets (with the claw-things extended) a little too well for Danny's comfort. Star, surprisingly, was a great shot with the Fenton Bazooka. Nathan learned to use basic things like wrist-rays and the Fenton Utility Weapon, but he joined the Team Phantom Tech Squad.

It was time for dinner by the time they all finished with that, and people were curious about Valerie not getting any gadgets besides a Specter Deflector, Fenton Phones, and a Thermos. They made themselves comfortable in the kitchen, and ordered pizza. While they were waiting for the delivery guy, there was quite a demand for stories. Danny tried to refuse, but after Dash got a chorus of 'Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!' going, it got difficult. Finally, Danny gave in.

"So, what story do you want to hear?" Some kids shouted for something funny, others wanted scary, and others wanted stories with them in them. He was about to tell them all about how he got his ice powers when Val asked to hear how he learned about Vlad. Danny was silent for a little while longer, and he began to speak.

"Okay, so I was out on patrol one night, when I saw these three ghost vultures arguing about being lost. I was really confused, because I had never seen a ghost not attack me before. Anyway, so they come up to me, and show me a picture of my dad. One of 'em asked me if they knew where to find him, so they could kill and/or destroy him. I said no and blasted them. I was about to pull out the Thermos when they attacked me back, and I had to chase them around town. I did, finally getting them into the Thermos after about fifteen minutes, and flew home, only to be greeted by my very angry parents, who have not been happy about me missing curfew all the time.

"I got myself a wonderful lecture for my efforts. Nice, huh? I said something about them not understanding what I was going through, and my hand promptly turned intangible because at this point, my powers still showed up when I didn't want them to sometimes. Jazz said something about me not being able to relate to them because they never told us about when they were younger. Dad took that excuse to drag us all to a college reunion a friend of his was hosting. His friend turned out to be Vlad Masters. On the way, my dad told us about how they were best friends, until Vlad went through an accident with a Ghost Portal Prototype, and got Ecto Acne. He was in the hospital for awhile, and became a billionaire after that.

"We got there (barely), and not even one minute after arriving, Vlad starts hitting on my mom. Jazz really didn't care as long as mom said 'no,' because it meant we slept in nice beds instead of in the RV. He threw a bit of a temper tantrum at my dad, but got control over himself again.

"That night, I woke up to my ghost sense, and discovered that those vultures were in the castle, and trying to waste my dad again. I got him to safety after transforming, and was about to fight them when they screamed and ran off. I thought it was too easy, so I turned around, and one of the freakiest looking ghosts I've ever seen was there. He had hair pointed up like horns, red eyes with no pupils, blue skin, pointed ears, and fangs.

We fought for a little bit, but he overpowered me really easily. He was playing with me the whole time, too. He was faster, he was stronger, and he could do things I couldn't yet. We were sarcastic at each other for a bit, and he said that he knew of me, the ghost boy who used my powers for good. He didn't know I was a halfa, though. After telling me this, he resumed blasting me, and when I fired back, he deflected it. I couldn't make shields yet, so this was new. He duplicated himself, and I thought the four of him were going to beat me up.

"I hate it when I'm right. They all blasted me at the same time, and then pummeled me viciously. The last thing I saw before I passed out was him, in front of me. When I pass out, I go back to being human. I woke up, and Vlad said he found me asleep in the hallway, so he carried me back to bed.

"The reunion was the next day. My parents were dancing, and I was thoroughly embarrassed. Vlad asked me to go down into his lab and get a present for my dad. I didn't question the existence of a lab in his mansion, because he has billions of dollars and can spend it however he wants. When I got down there, I didn't find a present, but I found Skulker. He's after my pelt because of my half-ghost status, so him capturing me in something that canceled out my ghost powers, while frightening, wasn't too far from his M.O. Neither was him shocking me until I turned human again.

"He had a knife to my throat when Vlad stepped out of the shadows, and told off Skulker for trying to kill me. Surprise number one was Skulker backing down. Surprise number two was him saying I was the second ghost hybrid my dad's 'foolishness' created and transforming into his ghost half, which was the ghost from the night before. He then went into a monologue, saying that he's had his powers for twenty years, and would train me in their use and treat me like a son if I turned on my dad.

"That's when I started calling him a seriously crazed up fruitloop." That's also when the pizza arrived. Jazz got up to pay for it, Danny pausing his story until the guy left. "Anyway, I told him that would never happen. He just teleported out of there to go try to ruin my dad's life. I was struggling for a while, when I heard a voice. My ghost sense would have gone off if all of my powers weren't canceled out. The Dairy King's ghost showed up, and got me out of the power eliminator. I don't think he likes Vlad very much, but he's not strong enough to do anything about it, which is the only reason most other ghosts tolerate him.

"I went off to find Vlad, and saw him overshadowing my dad. I managed to force him out, and we fought for a bit, but I knew I couldn't beat him, so I threatened him. I threatened to expose him, and he said if I did, he'd return the favor. Then, my mom and dad burst through the door in the RV, and Plasmius phased my mom out of the roof. When I aimed some of the weapons in the RV at Vlad, he dropped mom. To make my dad look better, I overshadowed him and made him catch her.

"I forced Vlad into a truce after that. If he didn't agree to it, I would expose us both. I hadn't been framed for very much after that, and I knew my parents would accept me, but they wouldn't accept Vlad. He agreed, and pretended to be defeated. We've run into each other since then, and it's been an unspoken agreement that we don't expose each other. He may be a seriously crazed up fruitloop who has needed a cat for a very long time, but he's smart. I don't want anyone besides me and Valerie, who has proved several times to be one of the best ghost hunters in Amity Park, to go up against him, and only when he pulls something first."

As they ate the rest of the pizza, they decided to work out a patrol schedule. Danny, Sam, and Tucker would patrol on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Valerie, Dash, and Nathan would get Tuesdays and Thursdays. Danny and Val would switch off weekends, and everyone else would help with what was close by. After dinner, they went back down to the basement. Danny and Valerie to train, Sam Tucker and Jazz to watch, and everyone else was just following them, hoping to figure out why Danny mentioned 'always having someone in the air' on patrols.

They got their answer pretty quickly. As Danny transformed into his ghost half, Valerie became the Red Huntress in a swirl of purple.

A collective "damn" spread over most of the onlookers.

**Whew! I apologize if it seemed like that one was unnecessarily long; the story Danny told took up a whole two pages. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you know how to let me know! Ciao!**


	5. Instruction and Dreams

**Okay, everyone, this is chapter 4 (obviously). I took advantage of some things in the show that weren't specified, like what martial art Valerie's a black belt in. I said Tae Kwon Do, because that's what I'm trained in, and I could make it work. I found myself a muse, too, who has been in charge of fight scenes since last chapter. He's a smart aleck in every sense of the word. Announcements are done, so on with the show!**

**I do not own Danny Phantom. That would be awesome, but sadly it is not so.**

Paulina began screaming once she got over the shock.

"It's been YOU all this time that's been after the ghost boy? When I get my hands on you I'll..." she was spouting obscenities that would require this story to be in the M section, and because I'm not going to change the rating again, I'll leave it there. Star had to hold her back, and man, Paulina was _fighting _her. Scratches, kicking, all of it was employed to try to get to the one who hurt her precious ghost boy. Danny and Valerie, as one, sighed and facepalmed. Eventually, the question of why she used to hunt Danny was brought up.

"Because, I thought he ruined my social life. The ghost dog he was chasing down got past all the security my dad set up at Axion, and because of that, the head honchos fired him. I was mad, and then I got to believing he, and all other ghosts, were evil. Obviously, my opinion has changed." At seeing Paulina calm down a bit, she turned back to Danny, rolling her eyes. "Okay ghost boy. Let's see what you've got." She said with a smirk. "No powers, just hand-to-hand."

Danny's grin immediately fell into a frown of concentration as he fell into a fighting stance. Valerie did the same. They circled each other, each watching for an opening. When he found one, Danny swept forward and aimed a punch at Valerie's torso. She blocked it, saying "Good. Tighten your fist more." She kicked at his side, verbally adjusting his block. He tried sweeping her legs out from under her, but she jumped and brought her arm down in a hammer fist. He simultaneously blocked and landed a side kick as she was landing, knocking her back several feet. She ran into a flying side kick, which he blocked by grabbing her leg and flipping her over his shoulder.

The fight went on like this for ten minutes, both parties panting and sweating from the exertion. Valerie's corrections most often were directed at kicks and blocks. Being a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, she steered him more towards kicking.

"You've already got ectoblasts and stuff like that coming from your hands. Your legs are stronger than your arms anyway, and a kick takes about the same amount of energy as a hand strike, so kicking gives you a stronger attack for less." They were finished by now, taking a break for water. Danny gave a nod, and chilled his and Valerie's drinks with his ice powers. "That's handy. Let me show you some of the more advanced kicks. You do pretty well with the basic roundhouse, side, and hammer, and snap kicks." She motioned for Danny to give her some space, and he backed off, watching the demonstration.

"This is called a skip round house kick." She scooted forward, and kicked with her front leg. "Make sure your back leg moves up to where your front leg was, if not past it. Make sure to snap your leg on the kick, too. Now you try." He complied with her request, silently kicking three or four times until Val gave the okay to stop. "Good. Make sure you yell. Kihaps, or yelling, is an important part of Tae Kwon Do. Your power comes from your center, and yelling is a good way to bring it out."

"Actually, Val, I have to disagree with you there. That may be true when I am human, but when I'm a ghost, my body structure changes completely. All of my power comes from here when I'm a ghost." He placed his hand over his chest, where his sternum would be when he was human. "All of a ghost's energy comes from its core. Ghost's powers and energy are mental, not physical. I have to will my core into working to do anything with it. Working like that happens as subconsciously as breathing, though, so it's no big deal."

Val blinked, but continued with her instruction. "Interesting. Moving on, this is a skip side kick." She demonstrated the kick slowly, emphasizing the pushing motion. "Make sure you kick with your heel. Extend your leg all the way, and angle your body to keep your balance. It also gives you a bit more height. Now you." He complied, repeating the kick three times for each leg.

"This kick is called a back side kick." She talked through the motions as she spun her body around clockwise, taking what started as her back leg and extending it in the direction that used to be in front of her, then brought it back behind her. "This kick can be broken down into three steps. Step one is twisting your body around. You twist your head first, and the rest of your body follows. Make sure you know where you're kicking before you kick. Step two is the kick itself. Extend your leg fully, kicking with your heel. While you're kicking, the foot that's grounded is going to point towards the opposite direction of your kick. Step three is bringing your kick back into a fighting stance. Throughout the whole kick, make sure you keep your body in a line. You should be able to stand against a wall on either side of you, complete this kick, and not hit either of them."

Danny nodded, and it took twenty kicks on each leg before he got it down. "Good thing I don't get dizzy anymore." He joked. He moved aside at Val's urging again.

"This is called a hook kick." She swung her bent leg in front of her, her foot parallel to the floor, and snapped her leg. "My instructor described this kick as 'a high-five to the face. With your foot.' You try." It took him ten kicks with each leg, but he managed to get it.

"Good. This next kick is a variation of the hook kick. It's called a back spin kick. You start out like a back side kick, but when you do the kick itself, you do a hook kick, not a side kick. The momentum of the kick helps you turn back around." She demonstrated, and walked him through the kick. He kicked twenty times on each leg before getting it. "Very good. These next kicks should be easy for you. Jumping or flying snap, roundhouse, and side kicks." She demonstrated each. "I think, for you, you should just hover as you do these, and you should practice all of the other kicks I have showed you in the air as well. That's probably where you'll be using them anyway."

Danny went through all the kicks he had learned in midair, Val on her jet sled hovering around him and making adjustments on his form. By the time they were finished with that, beads of sweat coated both of their brows again from the practice. With a sigh, Danny morphed back and Valerie took off her suit. Everyone began to walk upstairs again, Val and Danny talking between breaths.

"Good job, Fenton. You're a fast learner."

"Yeah, well, this is just taking some of what I've been doing out of context." With a groan, he plopped himself into the chair closest to the fridge, so he wouldn't need to stand up to pull out some soda. Everyone was congratulating him on a job well, done, and asking him general questions about what it's like being a half-ghost, but he just ignored them. Sensing his desire to be left alone, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz ushered everyone out of FentonWorks, claiming that they would train more tomorrow. Danny gave them a grateful smile before trudging off to shower, then get straight to bed. He needed it too, after all, tomorrow was going to be a very trying day. Just after he fell asleep, Jazz came in and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm proud of you, little brother." He was so out of it, he didn't notice when his ghost sense went off. If he did, he would have woken up to see a tall figure with deep red eyes and jester-hat like horns on his head. He also would have kept him from making a stop at the houses of everyone who had been inducted into Team Phantom that day.

"I don't know why I have been told to do this, ghost child, but I wish I could torment you further. No matter. I will soon be free of my employment. When the time comes for your test, will you be ready?"

In the dream:

_ A girl clad in red flew through the sky of the city that had once been proud. Now, reduced to half its size, it was protected by a glowing blue shield. In fact, she was checking the towers that created the shield so they could keep _him_ out. She was about to call in the tower's status when she was interrupted._

_ "Hello, Valerie."_

_ "You again? I don't care how powerful you are, ghost! You can't break through the shield!" Despite her words, she was panicking._

_ "Until today." Just by the sound of his voice you could tell he was smirking. Suddenly, a horrible wailing filled the air, like the tormented moans of hundreds of ghosts. It was so powerful, it shattered glass and leveled buildings. It was so forceful, it destroyed the shield that protected them. _He _vowed that this time, there would be no survivors._

_ She flew home on her jet sled as fast as she could, dodging blasts from the Fright Knight along the way. She was about to warn her dad, who had been mutilated in battles past, when _he_ broke into the lab. _He_ turned to face them slowly, his cape billowing about behind him from all the energy he was giving off. _His_ flaming hair would have blended into the fire around him, had it not been white. The DP symbol on his chest stood alone, making a mockery of what it once stood for._

He_ was different now._

_ "Hello Valerie." As he spoke, you could see his fangs glint in his mouth._

_ "Valerie, run!" But it was too late._

_ "And goodbye." A father made his last stand to protect his child at the cost of his life. She fired at the demon in front of her, escaping from the ruins of what used to be the home of the demon himself._

He_ flew off laughing, firing blast after blast at his pleasure. A scream of rage tore from her throat as she blasted into the sky after _him_. "Now there's no one left! They're all gone!"_

_ "I know. Isn't it wonderful?" _He_ smirked at her pain, and effortlessly avoided the gunfire sent _his_ way. "C'mon, Val! You're aiming worse than the day you chased me off, remember? It was just after the explosion..." Bang, another shot flew by. "I told you about me because they all-" Bang. "Died?" He was smiling. "I didn't need them anyway." The next blast got him in the face. He lost his grin. "I see you're on the road to discover the same. You never would have made that shot if I didn't off your dear old dad." This time, she leapt off her sled and flying tackled the monster._

_ So caught by surprise, he dropped a few feet before righting himself and blasting her off of him. She recalled her sled and was caught midair, blasting at him the whole time, not caring when she missed. "Ha! I should have done that sooner! Who knew you'd do my job for me when I 'removed' that weakness from your life?" He spread his arms wide, inviting her to look around. She did, and saw that her blasting had done more harm than good. _He_ smirked, and was about to leave her to wallow in shame, when she started blasting again._

_ They soon began again the dance they had been dancing for all those ten years. Fire, dodge, taunt, fire, duck, repeat. It was a never ending duet that blazed pink and green across the sky, and fascinated those lucky enough to live to see it._

_ A woman clad in red watched in horror, shooting through her tears, as the demon destroyed what was left of her home. The demon reveled in the bloodshed, doing all _he_ could to wipe away the remains of the past where _he_ lost everything. _He_ blasted her off her jet sled, full out laughing at what he thought was her demise._

"AHH!" At the same time, six teenagers woke from a fitful sleep. Five of them wondered why the boy became a monster. The sixth just cried himself to sleep again. He began tossing and turning in his sleep, as if he was being lightly shocked and was trying to get away from it.

Line Break

"This is an outrage, Clockwork! Why did you show those humans the future?" To say that the Observants were upset would be an understatement.

"It needed to be done. Besides, the door on that future has closed." Clockwork neglected to mention that it was still possible for Danny to turn evil, but it was highly unlikely, and the Observants were none the wiser anyway. "I am merely preparing them for what's to come. If the threat of Dark Dan Phantom is to be dealt with permanently, they will need to be prepared."

"Don't you know what this could do to this timeline?" Insert 'I know everything here.' The Observants ignored his claim. "This could destroy the future!"

"This could destroy the future!" Clockwork mentally sighed. They said that twice. The Observants left, annoyed with the one they were annoying. Clockwork sighed once they left, and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. The second part of his plan was just beginning, after all.

**We all know what's going to happen now. But what's going on with Danny? You'll find out. Slightly unrelated to Danny's predicament, I'm going to be very evil, very soon. Isn't that wonderful?**


	6. And the Ball Gets Rolling

**Hello again! I'm not sure I'm entirely satisfied with how this chapter turned out, but I did my best.**

**Disclaimer: IDNODP.**

The next few days passed uneventfully, besides Danny being sucked in the thermos about twelve times. It was like Jazz trying to help week times fifteen. There were a few unexpected complications though. The twitching from the night they all had the nightmare was getting worse. It was only a mild twitch that usually went away after a second or two at first, but by the end of the week, it had escalated into full-on spasms, which were beginning to get uncomfortable. Not fun, especially when Jazz or Sam caught it happening. Also, later in the week (after receiving a call from the Fenton parents saying they would be staying another week at the convention), most of the A-list wanted to see the Ghost Zone.

"No guys. It's too dangerous."

"It can't be _that_ bad."

"You forget, Dash, that I'm Danny Phantom. I don't scare easily anymore." After another hour of arguing, and the threat of being sucked in the Thermos courtesy of Dash, Danny reluctantly agreed. "We'll need to figure out how it will work, though. Val and I can fly, but the rest of you can't, and the Specter Speeder only seats four at a time."

"So?" Apparently, Dash was worse than Danny at math. Who knew that was possible?

"Dash, we have seven people that need to go in the Speeder. I could carry some people, but I need my hands free for fighting back in case a ghost decides to attack us."

"Isn't there any way we could see it?" He was trying to pull the puppy dog eyes. It wasn't working, but when Jazz (who had never seen the Ghost Zone before) and everyone else except for Valerie was practically begging, Danny was about ready to crumble. Jazz came up with an idea, and they decided to roll with it.

"We all hooked up? Yeah? Then let's go." Danny turned and entered the Ghost Zone, Valerie right behind him with Sam and Tucker in third place in the Speeder. They had set up cameras and microphones, along with the Fenton Phones. It all linked to the monitor in the lab, which everyone who was left behind crowded in front of. "You guys getting the signal?"

"Rodger." Nathan was the official techie second-in-command, so he was monitoring the incoming video and audio feed. Everyone was oo-ing and ah-ing at the new sights, and some of them thought it was cool. They voiced their opinions, which the more experienced (aka those who have been in the Ghost Zone before) quickly shot down.

"You have obviously never been in here before. It's cold and clammy, and sends shivers up your spine. If you fall, you never stop falling. Not even I like it in here. Besides, you never know if something that wants to kill you for breathing will come along." Sam was talking, because Danny was lost in thought.

"Never thought I'd agree with Manson, but its even worse for me. You guys have a vehicle. I'm protected from it by nothing but a suit. The coldness you guys are feeling? When you're out here without the Speeder, its like the chill is in your bones. It isn't really that cold, though. It's mostly just creepy. It feels like death, if you understand what that means."

"I had to reprogram everything of mine that sends a signal so communication could happen across both worlds! It took me forever! I lost four PDAs in here, too. Not to mention my cell phones, my Gameboys..." It seemed like Tucker had brought every kind of electronic device in existance into the Ghost Zone, short of a particle accelerator. Danny still hadn't said a word by this point. "Dude, you okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I just keep forgetting that it's different for me."

"What do you mean, Danny?"

"I mean that the Ghost Zone affects me differently. I mean, yeah, when I'm a human in here, it feels wrong, but there's just something about it that draws me to it when I'm in ghost mode. To me, it isn't cold or creepy. It feels almost comforting in a way, really. Besides, I don't get tired as easily in here because of all the ghost energy floating around in here. It feels like home when I'm in ghost mode."

"Good. Maybe that means you'll stick around long enough to serve your sentence this time, punk!" Walker materialized behind them, with hundreds of guards in tow. "You there." He was looking at Valerie. "This is the first time I've seen you in here, so I'll let you off with a warning. You're trespassing in a restricted area."

"Valerie! Get out of here!" She looked at Danny, nodded, and ran. Walker turned back to Danny, Sam, and Tucker, who the guards had wrestled out of the Specter Speeder. Sam and Tucker had glowing restraints around their wrists, while Danny was bound at the wrists and ankles, had his arms bound to his sides, and was gagged with a glob of ectoplasm. They still had to hold him down though. When Sam and Tucker started biting, the guards gagged them too.

The three of them were thrown into the back of the plated truck that looked a lot like the one Danny and the Box Ghost were carted off in when he first came across Walker. Four guards were in the back with them, making sure that Danny didn't do anything. They mistook his jerking around for fighting, and he got tazered. He couldn't help it though, the spasms were getting even worse, and even painful, kind of like the Specter Deflector or the Plasmius Maximus. It was starting to make him feel weak, too.

Once they got to the prison, and were changed into their uniforms, Walker sat the three of them down in his office again, to deliver their sentences to them. "Human girl. You have trespassed in an unauthorized zone several times. Facilitated the escape of two criminals. Harbored a fugitive. Offended and assaulted several officers of the law. Found in possession and use of unauthorized recording equipment. Driving an unregistered vehicle without a license. You get 1,000 years. Same goes to you, human boy.

"Now, for my favorite punk." Walker kicked Danny to get his attention. "You, punk, have trespassed in several unauthorized areas of the Ghost Zone. Assaulted and insulted several officers of the law. Staged a prison break and let every one of my prisoners free. Driven an unregistered vehicle without a license. Harbored a fugitive. Stopped me in your hometown. Found in possession of and in use of unauthorized recording equipment, real world items no less. By this point, you should be executed."

Danny's eyes got wide, before his body gave a particularly painful spasm and he fell twitching to the floor. Walker just raised an eyebrow and continued like it never happened. Sam and Tucker were getting worried, though. "Anyway, punk, you _would_ be executed, but you got rid of the Ghost King for us. For that, your sentence lessens to an eternity in solitary confinement." He slammed his rulebook shut and nodded to the guards, who carried Sam and Tucker in one direction, and Danny in another, who looked to be clenching his eyes shut in pain.

Line Break

"Sam, we got to get out of this!" Tucker was pacing. And hyperventilating. The guards did, after all, take away all of his electronics.

"I know Tucker! Just calm down. We need to think about how to escape." The guards made sure to inform them that their cell was made of human-proof materials, and they would not be leaving it for any reason. They tested the information, and the bruises they got trying to get through the walls informed them that the guards were telling the truth.

"But Sam! Who knows what they could be doing to Danny right now! They could be beating him, or torturing him, or worse!" Sam slapped him across the head.

Line Break

The humans that weren't in the Ghost Zone were having the same freak-out. Only Valerie and Jazz were keeping level heads, and that's only because they've been in that situation before.

"GUYS! CALM DOWN!" Nobody paid attention to Val until she shot one of her ecto-pistols into the air. "I know this looks bad, but running around screaming will NOT get anything done. Nathan, I need you to hack into the Specter Speeder's navigational system. See if it has a map. Jazz, I need you to start planning an assault." Ten minutes later, Nathan had successfully gotten the Speeder's on-board map onto his computer, and Jazz was hard at work formulating a plan.

"Val, I don't think we can do this. One of the things Danny has told me about the Ghost Zone is that humans there are the ghosts. They can phase through things. Walker knows that, because Danny, Sam, and Tuck figured it out because of him. Walker has planned for Danny's capture for over a year. They probably have them in reinforced, human-proof cells. Nothing we have is strong enough to get through his defenses."

"What if we had other ghosts on our side? I know Danny has that friend of his, Frostbite. He might be willing to help us. We need to figure out how to get there..."

Line Break

The guards dragged Danny away from his friends, off to his cell. They were talking to him, but he wasn't paying attention. He was more focused on figuring out how to escape. The guards noticed he wasn't paying attention. They did not appreciate being ignored. They informed him of their feelings with a tazer.

"AAAAAH" Being shocked is not fun, especially when it starts to become a familiar sensation, like it was for Danny. "What did I do?"

"Don't talk back to us like that kid. We were saying that we've ghost-proofed and human-proofed your cell. Its also been designed to bounce whatever attacks you throw at it back at you. You won't be leaving for any reason, either. Walker was debating whether or not to feed you... he decided on a 'no.'" This was just perfect. He was going to spend an eternity in solitary confinement, his human half would be starved to death, he probably wouldn't ever see the light of day again- let alone the green light of the Ghost Zone, and worst of all, he was too weak to fight back. All of a sudden, his guards stopped and opened a door he hadn't noticed before, because it was set into the wall and had no windows.

They threw him inside (quite literally) and shut the door behind him. It was much darker in the cell, so he waited a few minutes for his eyes to adjust. After ten minutes, he figured out that there was absolutely no light in the cell for him to adjust to. There were no windows, and he couldn't even feel the difference between the door and the walls of his cell.

He lit up his palm with energy, to see that his cell was barely wide enough for him to lay down in, and barely tall enough for him to stand. He noticed, belatedly, that his gag and restraints were gone. So, he did what any other panicking half ghost would do. He flew at the walls, punching and kicking. He fired ectoblasts, only to have the walls send ectoblasts back at him. Hey, it looks like they guards were telling the truth. His body gave a particularly violent jolt that lasted for about three minutes. It hurt. At the end of it, he was gasping for air on his back. He was too weak to move from the aftershocks, so he fell into a fitful sleep, slipping back into humanity as sleep took him.

_He and his friends emerged in what once was to be. He floated for a while, unable to process the smell of burnt and decaying flesh, the scent of death that was everywhere. He saw splatters of blood and what he hoped was not human intestines. He would have been horrified, if his mind was able to grip what was going on. Tucker made a remark about not taking the CAT, dealing with the trauma the only way he could. Sam was almost horror-struck into speechlessness. A woman clad in red who had lost everything rose from the rubble and blasted at the boy who would not become a monster._

_ She got him into a net, but it wasn't long before _he_ showed up. What they saw in Clockwork's viewer was nothing compared to being _aroundhim_. You could feel the insanity around him; feel the malice radiate off him in waves. When he spoke, you could hear the ten years of anger and hate just as clearly as the words he spoke. Tucker and Sam tried to run. The monster just collapsed the building on top of them._

_ "NOOO!" _The vision shifted...

He_ was floating in front of the Nasty Burger, taunting them with the knowledge of who he was. They would all die here, _he_ would make sure of it. The boy came from the sky, blasting the future him out of sight. "I won't turn into him. Ever. I promise." He blinked and turned to his teacher. "I'm guessing this sort of explains my periodic absences, huh?" Even when faced with evil, he could still joke around. Any further conversation was prevented by being pulled away by the monster. "What are you gonna do? Waste me? What happens to you then?"_

_ "You don't get it, do you? I'm still here. I still exist. That means you still turn into me." They battled for quite some time, the boy growing more and more desperate. Eventually, the battle was won. The boy was exhausted and nearly collapsed; he simply had no energy left. He smirked triumphantly, looking at the Thermos in his hand, before his eyes widened in horror._

_ "Oh no." He turned, and ran towards the overheating boilers, but he tripped over the rubble from the battle. His eyes widened further, almost comically wide, as he realized he didn't have the energy to pick himself back up. He could only watch, and feel the heat against his face, as his entire life fell apart._

"AAAAH!" He woke up with a jolt, quite literally. He instinctively switched into his ghost form, blinding himself with the sudden light. He couldn't stop screaming or convulsing for what could have been hours, but was only ten minutes. He lost track of time anyway. Only a few seconds after the pain began, he found himself forced back into his human form, blinded by the sudden light once again. When the torment was over, he lay panting and shaking, wanting to cradle some part of his body to ease the pain, but there wasn't anything that didn't hurt.

When it happened again, who-knows-how-long later, a guard had to come in and make sure he wasn't breaking out. The light blinded him again- it must have been a while after the last attack, but through his pain, he could see that the guard got a nasty shock from just touching him. In fact, the glow around the goon faded out, and he was left to crawl, unable to get himself into the air. Now more than a little freaked out by the attacks, he could only wonder what was happening, let alone how to get out of this mess.

_Valerie and Jazz are the only ones clever enough to be able to break us out of here. Finding Sam and Tuck should be easy enough, at least they'll get out... I kinda doubt they'll find me, though. _Cue mind-numbing shocking attack here. _Hey, that one didn't last as long. I wonder why those attacks are leaving me so weak. It usually takes getting shocked longer and harder to get me to detransform... Ugh. I'm too tired to think about it right now. _He went to sleep, trying to ignore the near-constant light shocks still racking his body.

**That was fun. I quoted word-for-word from TUE without watching the episode, by the way. I feel like a nerd. Tell me what you think guys, I always accept criticism, as long as it isn't anything pointless like "omg u suk"**


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